Massive Methane LEAK in Arctic sea - the End is Nigh

"The scale and volume of the methane release has astonished the head of the Russian research team who has been surveying the seabed of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf off northern Russia for nearly 20 years."

"This is the first time that we've found continuous, powerful and impressive seeping structures, more than 1,000 metres in diameter. It's amazing," Dr Semiletov said.

"Some plumes were a kilometre or more wide and the emissions went directly into the atmosphere – the concentration was a hundred times higher than normal."

That is bad, bad news. Methane is what ancient anaerobic bacteria in the 'dead zones' of the oceans eat, which spew hydrogen sulfide. That will provide them a nigh limitless supply of food, and when bacteria have limitless food...

Well, I was hoping for a while that we could mine the methane hydrates, use them as an energy source. Burning it converts it into CO2, not good, but better than methane and waaaaay better than hydrogen sulfide. But it's too late for that, obviously; no time to ramp up infrastrucure for that now.

So, what are the choices? We could arm subs with powerful lasers and purposely detonate the methane hydrate deposits as they begin to dissociate (melt). That would produce some HUGE explosions. I kinda wonder if that wasn't what caused that Virginia quake. Not sure we have enough subs though. We could use nukes too, and that'd probably burn off the methane more effectively, but has the obvious drawback of needing to nuke most of the coastlines in the northern hemisphere (which is where most methane hydrate deposits are located).

Or we could just let the Earth do her thing, as she has before, and then we end up with a deadly poisonous and explosively flammable atmosphere for the next few million years.

Assuming there are at least 1000 leaks, and all are about 1km square. That would be 0.0002% of surface area.

Considering the Earths atmosphere 4,200,000,000 cubic km. It would take decades to make the atmosphere explosive.

Rest easy people, this is a non-doom issue atm.

However, should the oceans encounter a globally universal environment where the methane build up is released simultaneously......well, then were in trouble.

Quoting: Anonymous Coward 1405546

You don't really grasp the problem. It's the hydrogen sulfide, which is produced when ancient anaerobic bacteria eat methane or biomatter. There is as much methane in the methane hydrates as all the gas and oil reserves on the planet combined. There is also a HUGE amount of biomass in the oceans which - if you hadn't noticed - are ALREADY dying.

There is enough methane and biomass out there to thoroughly poison the atmosphere. Hydrogen sulfide is lethal in 1 part per thousand. One or two breathes and you're history. In lower concentrations it knocks you unconscious, like those 22 Houston students, those 136 Cambodian students, the 5 near Boston, the 60-ish Zappos workers, the family of 5 that sickened in their car in Kentucky this past week, and on and on. Our atmosphere is getting poisoned RIGHT NOW.

It's also a highly flammable gas, and it's heavier than air. Remember those raging Russian fires in 2010? That was also the year the Gulf circulation stalled, making the dead zones grow in size and potency. And now this past year fires all over, from CA to FLA and everywhere in between, and Russia again, and Mexico, and South America, and Australia.

And people are dropping dead from it. 3 corpses found on MSU grounds in a 10-day span of time recently. The guy in the Reno fire who stepped outside to evacuate and immediately dropped dead. The family of four found dead in their pool and bathtub in San Diego. The family of four found dead in their home in the UK last week. It goes on and on and on, corpses everywhere. They're dying in homes all around you, I'm sure, but it looks just like a heart attack, or 'natural causes', and leaves no real trace, no smoking gun, unless the autopsy is done quickly AND the ME knows what to look for - doubtful.

This extinction event has happened before. Here's a science article that ties things together pretty well, though I'm sure the author hoped fervently not to be proven so accurate in his lifetime:

This is why the super-rich are building bunkers in the Himalayas - to minimize dealing with the invisible waves of lethal heavier-than-air gas that is even now building up in our atmosphere.

Oh, as if flammable poison gas wasn't enough to deal with, it's also reacting away our ozone layer, like so: H2S + O3 => H2O + O2 + S. Noticed the Sun getting brighter this past year? Those schoolkids that got 'flash-burned' in Louisiana on an INDOOR field-trip to another school in JANUARY sure noticed. And seals and dolphins are showing up with lesions. That's not from Fukushima. That's from the SUN, as our ozone layer is reacted away to nothing. Noticed all the white buffalos and other albinos, and the four-armed kids, and two-headed turtles and snakes of late? Mutation rates are spiking now, from the increasing UV levels.

Basically, you're gonna need a backup atmosphere, soon.

There is ONE positive here: the unemployment rate should drop as people die off. Well, lo and behold, it just dropped a half point. What was the explanation? That a bunch of people 'unexpectedly dropped out of the work force'. Uh huh, yeah, because they unexpectedly dropped out of BEING ALIVE.

not to mention the methane being released from the Russian permafrost melting in the tundra...not good, much worse than ozone

_____________________________________Even the structure of the atom has been found by the mind. Therefore the mind is subtler than the atom. That which is behind the mind, namely the individual soul, is subtler than the mind.

Assuming there are at least 1000 leaks, and all are about 1km square. That would be 0.0002% of surface area.

Considering the Earths atmosphere 4,200,000,000 cubic km. It would take decades to make the atmosphere explosive.

Rest easy people, this is a non-doom issue atm.

However, should the oceans encounter a globally universal environment where the methane build up is released simultaneously......well, then were in trouble.

Quoting: Anonymous Coward 1405546

You don't really grasp the problem. It's the hydrogen sulfide, which is produced when ancient anaerobic bacteria eat methane or biomatter. There is as much methane in the methane hydrates as all the gas and oil reserves on the planet combined. There is also a HUGE amount of biomass in the oceans which - if you hadn't noticed - are ALREADY dying.

There is enough methane and biomass out there to thoroughly poison the atmosphere. Hydrogen sulfide is lethal in 1 part per thousand. One or two breathes and you're history. In lower concentrations it knocks you unconscious, like those 22 Houston students, those 136 Cambodian students, the 5 near Boston, the 60-ish Zappos workers, the family of 5 that sickened in their car in Kentucky this past week, and on and on. Our atmosphere is getting poisoned RIGHT NOW.

It's also a highly flammable gas, and it's heavier than air. Remember those raging Russian fires in 2010? That was also the year the Gulf circulation stalled, making the dead zones grow in size and potency. And now this past year fires all over, from CA to FLA and everywhere in between, and Russia again, and Mexico, and South America, and Australia.

And people are dropping dead from it. 3 corpses found on MSU grounds in a 10-day span of time recently. The guy in the Reno fire who stepped outside to evacuate and immediately dropped dead. The family of four found dead in their pool and bathtub in San Diego. The family of four found dead in their home in the UK last week. It goes on and on and on, corpses everywhere. They're dying in homes all around you, I'm sure, but it looks just like a heart attack, or 'natural causes', and leaves no real trace, no smoking gun, unless the autopsy is done quickly AND the ME knows what to look for - doubtful.

This extinction event has happened before. Here's a science article that ties things together pretty well, though I'm sure the author hoped fervently not to be proven so accurate in his lifetime:

This is why the super-rich are building bunkers in the Himalayas - to minimize dealing with the invisible waves of lethal heavier-than-air gas that is even now building up in our atmosphere.

Oh, as if flammable poison gas wasn't enough to deal with, it's also reacting away our ozone layer, like so: H2S + O3 => H2O + O2 + S. Noticed the Sun getting brighter this past year? Those schoolkids that got 'flash-burned' in Louisiana on an INDOOR field-trip to another school in JANUARY sure noticed. And seals and dolphins are showing up with lesions. That's not from Fukushima. That's from the SUN, as our ozone layer is reacted away to nothing. Noticed all the white buffalos and other albinos, and the four-armed kids, and two-headed turtles and snakes of late? Mutation rates are spiking now, from the increasing UV levels.

Basically, you're gonna need a backup atmosphere, soon.

There is ONE positive here: the unemployment rate should drop as people die off. Well, lo and behold, it just dropped a half point. What was the explanation? That a bunch of people 'unexpectedly dropped out of the work force'. Uh huh, yeah, because they unexpectedly dropped out of BEING ALIVE.

Quoting: Anonymous Coward 6830403

Listen up. This guy is not talking nonsense. I have a degree in Petroleum Engineering and a degree in Geology.

This post contains no bullshit.

The engravings translate to "This space intentionally left blank."

The prayer is inscribed in an ancient script, rarely used today. It seems to be a philippic against small insects, absent-mindedness, and the picking up and dropping of small objects.

The gate is open; through it you can see a desolation, with a pile of mangled bodies in one corner. Thousands of voices, lamenting some hideous fate, can be heard.The way through the gate is barred by evil spirits, who jeer at your attempts to pass.

That doesn't mean what he says is going to happen. But he is not bullshitting.

The engravings translate to "This space intentionally left blank."

The prayer is inscribed in an ancient script, rarely used today. It seems to be a philippic against small insects, absent-mindedness, and the picking up and dropping of small objects.

The gate is open; through it you can see a desolation, with a pile of mangled bodies in one corner. Thousands of voices, lamenting some hideous fate, can be heard.The way through the gate is barred by evil spirits, who jeer at your attempts to pass.

The prayer is inscribed in an ancient script, rarely used today. It seems to be a philippic against small insects, absent-mindedness, and the picking up and dropping of small objects.

The gate is open; through it you can see a desolation, with a pile of mangled bodies in one corner. Thousands of voices, lamenting some hideous fate, can be heard.The way through the gate is barred by evil spirits, who jeer at your attempts to pass.

wonder if theres a connection of methane release to earth cracking up and big increase in volcanic activity or vice versa

_____________________________________Even the structure of the atom has been found by the mind. Therefore the mind is subtler than the atom. That which is behind the mind, namely the individual soul, is subtler than the mind.

Assuming there are at least 1000 leaks, and all are about 1km square. That would be 0.0002% of surface area.

Considering the Earths atmosphere 4,200,000,000 cubic km. It would take decades to make the atmosphere explosive.

Rest easy people, this is a non-doom issue atm.

However, should the oceans encounter a globally universal environment where the methane build up is released simultaneously......well, then were in trouble.

Quoting: Anonymous Coward 1405546

You don't really grasp the problem. It's the hydrogen sulfide, which is produced when ancient anaerobic bacteria eat methane or biomatter. There is as much methane in the methane hydrates as all the gas and oil reserves on the planet combined. There is also a HUGE amount of biomass in the oceans which - if you hadn't noticed - are ALREADY dying.

There is enough methane and biomass out there to thoroughly poison the atmosphere. Hydrogen sulfide is lethal in 1 part per thousand. One or two breathes and you're history. In lower concentrations it knocks you unconscious, like those 22 Houston students, those 136 Cambodian students, the 5 near Boston, the 60-ish Zappos workers, the family of 5 that sickened in their car in Kentucky this past week, and on and on. Our atmosphere is getting poisoned RIGHT NOW.

It's also a highly flammable gas, and it's heavier than air. Remember those raging Russian fires in 2010? That was also the year the Gulf circulation stalled, making the dead zones grow in size and potency. And now this past year fires all over, from CA to FLA and everywhere in between, and Russia again, and Mexico, and South America, and Australia.

And people are dropping dead from it. 3 corpses found on MSU grounds in a 10-day span of time recently. The guy in the Reno fire who stepped outside to evacuate and immediately dropped dead. The family of four found dead in their pool and bathtub in San Diego. The family of four found dead in their home in the UK last week. It goes on and on and on, corpses everywhere. They're dying in homes all around you, I'm sure, but it looks just like a heart attack, or 'natural causes', and leaves no real trace, no smoking gun, unless the autopsy is done quickly AND the ME knows what to look for - doubtful.

This extinction event has happened before. Here's a science article that ties things together pretty well, though I'm sure the author hoped fervently not to be proven so accurate in his lifetime:

This is why the super-rich are building bunkers in the Himalayas - to minimize dealing with the invisible waves of lethal heavier-than-air gas that is even now building up in our atmosphere.

Oh, as if flammable poison gas wasn't enough to deal with, it's also reacting away our ozone layer, like so: H2S + O3 => H2O + O2 + S. Noticed the Sun getting brighter this past year? Those schoolkids that got 'flash-burned' in Louisiana on an INDOOR field-trip to another school in JANUARY sure noticed. And seals and dolphins are showing up with lesions. That's not from Fukushima. That's from the SUN, as our ozone layer is reacted away to nothing. Noticed all the white buffalos and other albinos, and the four-armed kids, and two-headed turtles and snakes of late? Mutation rates are spiking now, from the increasing UV levels.

Basically, you're gonna need a backup atmosphere, soon.

There is ONE positive here: the unemployment rate should drop as people die off. Well, lo and behold, it just dropped a half point. What was the explanation? That a bunch of people 'unexpectedly dropped out of the work force'. Uh huh, yeah, because they unexpectedly dropped out of BEING ALIVE.

Quoting: Anonymous Coward 6830403

thanks for scaring the fuck out of me and making me cry for my children

Assuming there are at least 1000 leaks, and all are about 1km square. That would be 0.0002% of surface area.

Considering the Earths atmosphere 4,200,000,000 cubic km. It would take decades to make the atmosphere explosive.

Rest easy people, this is a non-doom issue atm.

However, should the oceans encounter a globally universal environment where the methane build up is released simultaneously......well, then were in trouble.

Quoting: Anonymous Coward 1405546

You don't really grasp the problem. It's the hydrogen sulfide, which is produced when ancient anaerobic bacteria eat methane or biomatter. There is as much methane in the methane hydrates as all the gas and oil reserves on the planet combined. There is also a HUGE amount of biomass in the oceans which - if you hadn't noticed - are ALREADY dying.

There is enough methane and biomass out there to thoroughly poison the atmosphere. Hydrogen sulfide is lethal in 1 part per thousand. One or two breathes and you're history. In lower concentrations it knocks you unconscious, like those 22 Houston students, those 136 Cambodian students, the 5 near Boston, the 60-ish Zappos workers, the family of 5 that sickened in their car in Kentucky this past week, and on and on. Our atmosphere is getting poisoned RIGHT NOW.

It's also a highly flammable gas, and it's heavier than air. Remember those raging Russian fires in 2010? That was also the year the Gulf circulation stalled, making the dead zones grow in size and potency. And now this past year fires all over, from CA to FLA and everywhere in between, and Russia again, and Mexico, and South America, and Australia.

And people are dropping dead from it. 3 corpses found on MSU grounds in a 10-day span of time recently. The guy in the Reno fire who stepped outside to evacuate and immediately dropped dead. The family of four found dead in their pool and bathtub in San Diego. The family of four found dead in their home in the UK last week. It goes on and on and on, corpses everywhere. They're dying in homes all around you, I'm sure, but it looks just like a heart attack, or 'natural causes', and leaves no real trace, no smoking gun, unless the autopsy is done quickly AND the ME knows what to look for - doubtful.

This extinction event has happened before. Here's a science article that ties things together pretty well, though I'm sure the author hoped fervently not to be proven so accurate in his lifetime:

This is why the super-rich are building bunkers in the Himalayas - to minimize dealing with the invisible waves of lethal heavier-than-air gas that is even now building up in our atmosphere.

Oh, as if flammable poison gas wasn't enough to deal with, it's also reacting away our ozone layer, like so: H2S + O3 => H2O + O2 + S. Noticed the Sun getting brighter this past year? Those schoolkids that got 'flash-burned' in Louisiana on an INDOOR field-trip to another school in JANUARY sure noticed. And seals and dolphins are showing up with lesions. That's not from Fukushima. That's from the SUN, as our ozone layer is reacted away to nothing. Noticed all the white buffalos and other albinos, and the four-armed kids, and two-headed turtles and snakes of late? Mutation rates are spiking now, from the increasing UV levels.

Basically, you're gonna need a backup atmosphere, soon.

There is ONE positive here: the unemployment rate should drop as people die off. Well, lo and behold, it just dropped a half point. What was the explanation? That a bunch of people 'unexpectedly dropped out of the work force'. Uh huh, yeah, because they unexpectedly dropped out of BEING ALIVE.

Quoting: Anonymous Coward 6830403

thanks for scaring the fuck out of me and making me cry for my children

That is bad, bad news. Methane is what ancient anaerobic bacteria in the 'dead zones' of the oceans eat, which spew hydrogen sulfide. That will provide them a nigh limitless supply of food, and when bacteria have limitless food...

Well, I was hoping for a while that we could mine the methane hydrates, use them as an energy source. Burning it converts it into CO2, not good, but better than methane and waaaaay better than hydrogen sulfide. But it's too late for that, obviously; no time to ramp up infrastrucure for that now.

So, what are the choices? We could arm subs with powerful lasers and purposely detonate the methane hydrate deposits as they begin to dissociate (melt). That would produce some HUGE explosions. I kinda wonder if that wasn't what caused that Virginia quake. Not sure we have enough subs though. We could use nukes too, and that'd probably burn off the methane more effectively, but has the obvious drawback of needing to nuke most of the coastlines in the northern hemisphere (which is where most methane hydrate deposits are located).

Or we could just let the Earth do her thing, as she has before, and then we end up with a deadly poisonous and explosively flammable atmosphere for the next few million years.

_____________________________________Even the structure of the atom has been found by the mind. Therefore the mind is subtler than the atom. That which is behind the mind, namely the individual soul, is subtler than the mind.